North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2011-2012

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (RBT) Table

The Cognitive Process Dimension
1. Remember – 2. Understand – 3. Apply – 4. Analyze – 5. Evaluate – 6. Create –
retrieve relevant Construct meaning Carry out or use a Break material into its Make judgments Put elements together to
knowledge from from instructional procedure in a given constituent parts and based on criteria and form a coherent or
The Knowledge long-term messages, situation determine how the parts standards functional whole;
Dimension memory including oral, relate to one another reorganize elements into
written, and and to an overall a new pattern or
graphic structure or purpose structure
communication

A. Factual Knowledge -
The basic elements
students must know to be
acquainted with a
discipline or solve
problems in the discipline.
B. Conceptual
Knowledge - The
interrelationships among
the basic elements within
a larger structure that
enable them to function
together.
C. Procedural
Knowledge - How to do
something, methods of
inquiry, and criteria for
using skills, algorithms,
techniques, and methods.
D. Meta-Cognitive -
Knowledge of cognition in
general as well as
awareness and knowledge
of one’s own cognition.

Source: Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., eds. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives; abridged edition. NY: Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc.

Remember – retrieve
relevant knowledge from
long-term memory
Recognizing
 Identifying
Definition/Example:
Locating knowledge in long-
term memory that is
consistent with presented
material (e.g., recognize the
dates of important events in
U.S. history).
Recalling
 Retrieving
Definition/Example:
Retrieving relevant knowledge
from long-term memory (e.g.,
recall the dates of important
events in U.S. history).
Source: Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., eds. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives; abridged edition. NY: Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc.
Understand – Construct
meaning from instructional
messages, including oral,
written, and graphic
communication
Interpreting
 Clarifying
 Paraphrasing
 Representing
 Translating
Definition/Example:
Changing from one form of
representation (e.g.,
numerical) to another (e.g.,
verbal) (e.g., Paraphrase
important speeches and
documents.
Exemplifying
 Illustrating
 Instantiating
Definition/Example:
Finding a specific example or
illustration of a concept or
principle (e.g., Give examples
of various artistic painting
styles).
Classifying
 Categorizing
 Subsuming
Definition/Example:
Determining that something
belongs to a category (e.g.,
Classify observed or described
cases of mental disorders).
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2011-2012
The Cognitive Process Dimension Categories:
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
Apply –
Carry out or use a
procedure in a given
situation
Executing
 Carrying Out
Definition/Example:
Applying a procedure to a
familiar task (e.g., Divide one
whole number by another
whole number, both with
multiple digits).
Implementing
 Using
Definition/Example:
Applying a procedure to an
unfamiliar task (e.g., Use
Newton’s Second Law in
situations in which it is
appropriate).
Analyze –
Break material into its
constituent parts and
determine how the parts
relate to one another and to
an overall structure or
purpose
Differentiating
 Discriminating
 Distinguishing
 Focusing
 Selecting
Definition/Example:
Distinguishing relevant from
irrelevant parts or important
from unimportant parts of
presented material (e.g.,
Distinguish between relevant
and irrelevant numbers in a
mathematical word problem).
Organizing
 Finding coherence
 Integrating
 Outlining
 Parsing
 Structuring
Definition/Example:
Determining how elements fit
or function within a structure
(e.g., Structure evidence in a
historical description into
evidence for and against a
particular historical
explanation).
Attributing
 Deconstructing
Evaluate –
Make judgments based on
criteria and standards
Checking
 Coordinating
 Detecting
 Monitoring
 Testing
Definition/Example:
Detecting inconsistencies or
fallacies within a process or
product; determining
whether a process or product
has internal consistency;
detecting the effectiveness of
a procedure as it is being
implemented (e.g., Determine
if a scientist’s conclusions
follow from observed data).
Critiquing
 Judging
Definition/Example:
Detecting inconsistencies
between a product and
external criteria, determining
whether a product has
external consistency;
detecting the appropriateness
of a procedure for a given
problem (e.g., Judge which of
two methods is the best way
to solve a given problem).
Create –
Put elements together to
form a coherent or
functional whole;
reorganize elements into a
new pattern or structure
Generating
 Hypothesizing
Definition/Example:
Coming up with alternative
hypotheses based on criteria
(e.g., Generate hypotheses to
account for an observed
phenomenon).
Planning
 Designing
Definition/Example:
Devising a procedure for
accomplishing some task (e.g.,
Plan a research paper on a
given historical topic).
Producing
 Constructing
Definition/Example:
Inventing a product (e.g.,
Build habitats for a specific
purpose).
 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2011-2012
Summarizing Definition/Example:
 Abstracting Determine a point of view,
 Generalizing bias, values, or intent
underlying presented material
Definition/Example: (e.g., Determine the point of
Abstracting a general theme view of the author of an essay
or major point(s) (e.g., Write in terms of his or her political
a short summary of the event perspective).
portrayed on a videotape).

Inferring
 Concluding
 Extrapolating
 Interpolating
 Predicting

Definition/Example: Drawing
a logical conclusion from
presented information (e.g.,
In learning a foreign language,
infer grammatical principles
with examples).

Comparing
 Contrasting
 Mapping
 Matching

Definition/Example: Detecting
correspondences between
two ideas, objects, and the
like (e.g., Compare historical
events to contemporary
situations).
Explaining
 Constructing
(models)

Definition/Example:
Constructing a cause-and-
effect model of a system (e.g.,
explain the causes of
th
important 18 Century events
in France).
Source: Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., eds. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives; abridged edition. NY: Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc.
 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2011-2012

The Knowledge Dimension:

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

A. Factual Knowledge -  Knowledge of terminology Example: Technical Vocabulary, music symbols

 Knowledge of specific details and elements Example: Major natural resources, reliable sources of
The basic elements information.
students must know to
be acquainted with a
discipline or solve
problems in the
discipline.
B. Conceptual  Knowledge of classifications and categories Example: Periods of geological time, forms of business
ownership
Knowledge - The  Knowledge of principles and generalizations Example: Pythagorean theorem, law of supply and demand
interrelationships  Knowledge of theories, models, and structures Example: Theory of evolution, structure of Congress
among the basic
elements within a
larger structure that
enable them to function
together.
C. Procedural  Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms Example: Skills used in painting with water colors, whole number
division algorithm
Knowledge - How to  Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and Example: Interviewing techniques, scientific method
do something, methods methods
of inquiry, and criteria  Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use Example: Criteria used to determine when to apply a procedure
for using skills, appropriate procedures involving Newton’s second law, criteria to judge the feasibility of
algorithms, techniques, using a particular method to estimate business costs
and methods.
D. Meta-Cognitive -  Strategic knowledge Example: Knowledge of outlining as a means of capturing the
structure of a unit of subject matter in a text book, knowledge of
Knowledge of cognition the use of heuristics
in general as well as  Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including Example: Knowledge of the types of tests particular teachers
awareness and appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge administer, knowledge of the cognitive demands of different
knowledge of one’s tasks
own cognition.  Self-knowledge Example: Knowledge that critiquing essays is a personal
strength, whereas writing essays is a personal weakness;
awareness of one’s own knowledge level

Source: Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., eds. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives; abridged edition. NY: Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc.